More than 50 armed police and Chinese commandos stormed and broke up a Sunday religious service of the Early Rain Covenant Church, one of the most influential underground Protestant churches in China, detaining over 30 worshippers including children and elderly for questioning.
A statement from the Early Rain Covenant Church posted on the Telegram app revealed that the incident occurred around 11:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, 14 June, while Christians were gathered for worship inside a ballroom of a hotel in Jiangyou city, southwestern China.
Armed police and special assault units, totaling no fewer than 50 personnel, entered the hall and ordered the activity to stop immediately. Photos and videos released by the church showed groups of Christians sitting together in the center of the room, surrounded by fully armed uniformed officers. Other footage showed plainclothes officers climbing onto the stage shouting for them to stop singing hymns, yet the worshippers continued singing and praying.
The church stated that over 30 leaders and members were "forcibly taken into multiple police vehicles" for questioning at the Jiangyou detention center, while the remaining members, including elderly and children, were confined inside the ballroom for identity checks. Officials pressured the detainees to sign confessions in exchange for release, but all refused. By 6:00 p.m., they were released. Those taken for questioning were gradually freed between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. that Sunday night.
However, as of now, two pastors and church leaders, Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing, remain in custody. Chinese authorities have not officially explained the reasons or filed charges. Both have been detained multiple times before, most recently in January on accusations of "picking quarrels and causing trouble."
The Early Rain Covenant Church was established in 2008 in Chengdu and has long been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance due to the government's strict religious control policies. In 2018, the church’s founding pastor, Wang Yi, was arrested during a major raid and is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for "inciting to subvert state power" and "illegal business operations."
Although Chinese authorities reported in 2018 that there are about 44 million Christians in the country, this figure excludes many participants in underground "house churches". The Chinese Communist Party pressures Christians to join only state-registered and government-approved churches, which must use pastors approved and controlled by the Party.
Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, a nonprofit monitoring religious persecution in China, condemned the incident, stating, "The Sunday raid is a stark reminder that the Chinese Communist Party still views peaceful Christian worship as a threat to its control over the government."
The crackdown on underground churches in China has intensified. In October last year, 30 religious leaders of Zion Church, one of the largest underground churches, were simultaneously arrested across seven major cities nationwide. The church’s founder, Ezra Jin, remains imprisoned.
. BBC